R.I. home sales, prices start 2010 higher
Chris Barrett
Providence Business News
April 22, 2010
http://www.pbn.com/detail/49350.html
WARWICK – Sales of single-family homes rose 8.5 percent and the median sales price increased 7.2 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors said Thursday.
The association said 1,365 homes sold in Rhode Island during the first three months of 2010, up from 1,258 in the first quarter of 2009.
The median sales price rose to $193,000, up from $180,000. Sales in March alone reached 576, up from a 484 last year. The median price last month was $193,500, up from $180,000 a year ago.
“We’re pleased with what we’ve been seeing,” Realtors President Karl Martone said in a statement. “Consumer confidence is growing and the [federal homebuyer] tax credit has helped as well, especially in March when sales increased almost 20 percent.”
He added: “It’s still critically important for sellers to be realistic in pricing in order to keep this sales momentum going and achieve a balanced market.”
On a percentage basis, communities showing the biggest increases in sales included Richmond, where sales rose 275 percent to 15; Jamestown, where they increased 266 percent to 11; and Middletown, which saw an increase of 233 percent to 30.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, in Charlestown the number of sales fell 46 percent to 7, and in Providence the total dropped 38 percent to 97.
Sales in the state’s multifamily home market were not as strong.
The Realtors said sales of multifamily homes in the first quarter dropped 26 percent compared with a year earlier, declining to 399 from 541 in 2009. But the median sales price increased almost 34 percent to $107,500, up from $80,000.
“Clearly, the multifamily market is stabilizing in Rhode Island,” Martone said. “We saw a feeding frenzy last year when prices were plummeting, but it appears that the fire sale mentality if over. We’re getting back to business as usual.”
In the condominium market, sales increased 13 percent year over year, the association said, rising to 214 from 189. The median sales price for condos rose slightly to $177,000, from $175,000 in the first quarter of 2009.
“Double digit growth in sales volume is important in the condo market because we still have an abundance of units for sale,” Martone said. “Rhode Island had a 16-month supply of condos for sale at the end of March.”